Discussions By Condition: Medical Stories

Mediastinitis Death

Hello, my brother was taken to hospital on 4th June at 12noon by ambulance. He was complaining of chest and stomach pains and had been sick several times the night before. He had also had 2 endoscopys earlier this year (the latest one being about 2.5 weeks before he was admitted to hospital, these were to look at a cluster of stomach ulcers which the 2nd endoscope showed they had gone)My brother had mental health problems and was showing to be a little 'odd' that day, he had also has kidney problems about a year ago,There were several blood samples taken at the hospital, my brother was also dehydrated so he was put on a drop and a consultant saw him, these happened before I arrived there at about 3pm.At 6pm my brother was taken to medical admissions and told he was being kept in for the night, on the way there a nurse told mr one if the blood tests showed he had some liver damage.When we arrived in medical emergencies the nurses did not bother with my brother, he was shouting out in pain and telling them he was in. Agony but they kept telling him to 'shut up' as there were 'very sick people' on his ward. He was put on s new drip bag which kept stopping dripping, i complained several times to the nurses before they eventually came and flushed it, it still wasn't working properly after that and i complained several times but nothing was done. A consultant came to see him at around 7pm and asked my brother to lie back so he could examine him but when my brother tried to lie back he screamed out and said he could not do it as it hurt too much, I explained to the consultant that my brother had kidney problems 12months before, that he had recently had 2 endoscopys and also explained his chest pain, stomach pain, vomiting and by then my brother also had pains in his shoulder so I told the consultant about those too, he said he would go and look at my brothers medical history and come back but he never did come back.I spent most of my time in medical admissions trying to find people to help my brother but the nurses were either not making eye contact, on changeover or too busy, by 10pm I was very upset, I found the nurse in charge if my brother and told her I had to go home but that I needed to make sure my brother would be okay, she got his notes and the first upsetting thing was that the consultant had written that my brother 'refused treatment' this was a blatant lie as my brother did not refuse treatment, he was just unable to lie back as it hurt too much. I was too tired to argue about it and thought I would wait until the morning to complain, I explained to the nurse that my brother had been sat on the edge if the bed all day because it hurt too much to lie down. I asked if she could give him dime pain relief so that he could lie down and get some sleep, I also explained that his mental health medication helped him sleep and asked if she could give him an alternative to help him sleep that night as he wasn't allowed to take his usual medication because they weren't sure if that was what was making him ill, she said she would give him dime string pain killers which would help him to lie down and also make him sleepy, I also asked if his blood pressure could be checked as no one had done it for hours, she assured me it would be done and I also informed her the drip bag wasn't working everyone my brother moved and she said she would keep an eye on that. I left the hospital at 10pm, by 4am my brother was dead. Apparently he was taken fir a chest X-ray around 3.30am and when he got back a nurse was explaining about the X-ray, his colour changed and he died within a breath.The cause if death was mediastinitis and an esopheogal rupture ( I don't have the full terms yet as I am waiting for a coroners report from the post mortem) due to natural causes,Does anyone have any knowledge of mediastinitis? Do you know if an endoscopy from nearly 3 weeks before could cause this? Do you know if this is a common disease, does anyone know if my brother could have been saved if a chest X-ray was carried out much sooner? Should the consultant have diagnosed this condition much sooner from the symptoms my brother had? Any information would be a great help, I cannot rest until I know if my brother could have been saved or if there was no way he could have been saved... I gave an awful feeling he was left alone to due once I left the hospital and I don't think ill ever be able to forgive myself for leaving him on his own, in all that pain he kept telling me about. He was 49years old and mowing my lawn 3 data before he went to hospital, I just can't get my head around it, thanks.Please excuse the bad typing, my laptop is broken so typing this on my phone

1 Replies:

JUST BE GLAD FOR THE TIME YOU HAD WITH YOUR BROTHER! THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO CHANGE IT. I LOST MY HUSBAND A YEAR AGO IN SIMULAR EVENTS AND WHERE THERE IS LIFE THERE IS DEATH. HOPE YOU GET PAST THIS OKAY.